Disruptive technologies in agricultural value chains: insights from East Africa

Working and discussion papers

March 2020

Aarti Krishnan, Karishma Banga and Maximiliano Mendez-Parra

Ugandan smallholder farmer logs field planting data on her phone. Photo: CTA ACP-EU

Global food demand is expected to increase by somewhere between 59% and 98% by 2050 as the world population reaches an estimated 9.7 billion. Food production is especially critical in Africa, where over 70% of the population rely on agriculture for their livelihoods.

Against a backdrop of the rapid dwindling of agricultural productivity, the exclusion of women from the work force and the threat of climate change, an increase in the use of agricultural technologies – AgriTech – could help reduce livelihood loss and support inclusive economic transformation.

This working paper explores the implications of the digitalisation of agriculture, with a focus on East Africa. It addresses the following key questions:

What is AgriTech?
What prevents adoption of AgriTech?
What does disruption mean within AgriTech?
What are the pathways through which AgriTech may disrupt livelihoods and support transformation?

Read the research